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Best Wheel/Tire setup for a Road Course

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http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

265 40 17 speedo is only of .1% or 1/10th of 1mph.

Very close OD match with stock. .4mm bigger radius

265 35 18 is a DEAD ON OD match. Nearly no speedo error at all.

a .1 mm smaller radius

Every brand and model is slightly different both would not affect the speedo enough to care about.

Now lets compare the amount of side wall on stock AWD tires to DG's

215-55-16 118.3 mm

275-40-17 110 mm

The width more than makes up for the cushion effect lost by the 8mm of sidewall decrease. A 275 wide by 110mm cushion vs a 215 wide by 118 mm.

What I want to run

265-40-17 106 mm sidewall

I might even run these with light wheels.

265-35-18 92.8mm sidewall A little thin but not nearly as bad as some rice boy sizes.

like a celica
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0010scc_projcelica/

They are running
215-40-17
only 86mm of sidewall.

That is a 40 aspect 17 in rim vs a 35 apect 18 and the 18 still has more sidewall due to the width :D
 
Ok I goofed a ways back stock is positive 46mm and DG has positive 12mm. Which is 24mm less change in offset than what I thought he needed to clear those steam rollers.

I'll be running 17" to save $ on tires.

About $50 a tire and more $ per wheel.
 
Originally posted by Luke@tirerack
Here are a few possibilities in the order I would recommend them

Option #1
Better steering response and handling along with a light weight, durable wheel perfect for track use
4-17X7.5 5-114 ET42 SSR COMP 375.00
4-225/45ZR17 MI PILOT SPORT CUP 227.00
Total 2,408.00

Att. Luke@tirerack
I'm very interested in this combo for my 93 awd but would it be possible and benifit me at all to run a 235/45/17 (would it even work )

and whats the differences between the mich pilot sport cup and the goodyear eagle F1 GS-D3 are they equal in performance,. Im looking for a tire that will handle great both in wet, dry, daily driving and auto x

Thanks
 
a 17x8 with a 40mm offset combined with a 234/40/17 or a 245/40/17 will fit on the car without any rubbing... you might need to remove the front inner splash guards if you run the 245s however. it is also possible to fit a 17x9 on the car, bu the rear tires will be in line with the body and the front tires will stick out 1 inch. then you can run 255's and even 265's. If you plan to run this, you very stiff suspension, or you need to roll the body and flare it out... This is what i've seen and done personally....
 
i have a question i have 4 konig tantrum 17" by 8" rims on my rs and i was wondering what tire setup you would recomend. they would have to be all season though. thanks.
 
That depends on what you are doing, as for wheel size use the smallest wheel that will fit over your brakes. In my case I am racing in SCCA's Improved Touring class, which means my car will be a 100% racecar, and this class has very strict rules on wheel size and tire type, you must use stock wheel diameter. And they are limited in width as well. ITS/ITA (eclipse is in ITA) has a max width of 7" while ITB/ITC has a max width of 6". As of right now the only diameter allowed for the 95-99 Eclipse is 16" but I am trying to get 14" wheels added to the spec line because that wheel was also offered on the RS (my car)

Now why would I run 14" wheels you ask? Simple, they weigh less, they cost less, tires cost less, I can run a smaller diameter wheel/tire combo effectively increasing my final drive ratio (faster acceleration) The tradeoff is a slightly smaller contact patch, but the faster acceleration will make up for it, I plan on running 225/50-14's (Kumho V700's for wet, Hoosier's or V710's for dry, maybe I'll try the Toyo's too)

As for everyday drivers going to the occasional track event anything over 17" is overkill and for looks only, the same applies on the street. As for tires, Falken Azenis are a really good street/track tire, inexpensive too. Frankly, my street car (2003 Protege5) looks just perfect with the 16" polished factory wheels.

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Originally posted by eMKay
anything over 17" is overkill and for looks only

LOL. Even with 17" wheels you can't fit 14" or 15" brakes. Pretty useless for road courses. :thumbdown
 
MY experience on track and street with my 2G AWD is that 17" wheels are an excellent compromise. They provide room for some pretty good sized brakes and can keep the wheel weight down to 17 pounds.

I use 17x8" SSR Integrals with a 38mm offset. With Eibach Pro springs I had to roll the rear fenders.

For brakes I use Stainless Steel Brakes' 12" rotor kit. Includes aluminum calipers and braided brake lines. Sweet deal for $725. Porterfield R4 pads do everything I need at the track. I was out-braking everything in my run group. I could always move up to R4E's.

Tires are 235/45-17 that are off from stock by only 1/2 a percent. The tires I have used with success are Sumitomo HTRZ-II. Everyone has their favorite. Maybe Kuhmos are stickier, and maybe there is another tire coming that is even better than that.

I keep camber front and rear at -2.5 degrees with zero toe.

Works for me.
 

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For some good looking light weight wheels try Rota they have a number of different stlyes and colors. I Have 17.7.5 Subzeros and they only weight 16lbs at $120.00 a wheel.
 
If you want the cheapest lightest rims you have to look here.
http://www.jaydm.com/slipstream.htm.

they have the rota slipstream. this rim can be 16" size with a 5-114.3mm bolt pattern. It weighs 13.5 pounds. you want a whole set, get this $500.00. Free shipping. check it out
 
I have used the following tires with success:

Kumho 712 - Good for the price
Kumho MX - A whole lot better
Flaken Azenas - Also really good for the price
Falken ZE-502 - Same as 712

While I thought all these tires were pretty good on my car and was happy with the performance, this all changed when I got my Bridgestone Potenza S-03 tires.

Without a word of a lie, the S-03 are so much better, as in "those other tires are not even in the same league not even close", that I just could not believe it. Grip in the corners was so much higher then I have ever imagined. What kills me the most is the grip in the rain. I take people for rides in my car in the rain and I can go faster around corners in the rain then they can in the dry with their 712's.

With some of those older tires I figured I was just at the cornering limit of my car however it was only the limit of the tires I was at. When I put the S-03 on the car that limit was raised so much that I really could not believe it. Honestly the difference between a real performance tire and a cheap "sort-of-performance" tire is absolutly amazing. Those other tires might as well be H rated M+S tires as far as I'm concerned now because of how poorly they perform compared to an S-03. As the tires wear the traction is not effected at all like most tires and they work really well.

Here is the downside however. The S-03 wear out quickly, espically if your at the track. On the street I have acheived more than 20,000miles on them before they are cooked. If you like to hang the arse out, the rears will wear out very quickly on you. They just love to eat the road up but that eats the rubber too and soon your looking at a slick.

In the end you can only buy whats in your budget, but if it allows the S-03 can not be beaten in my book. However, remember once you goto a vastly superior tire you will never be able to go back to a cheaper performance tire. Kinda like driving a DSM then being asked to drive an Automatic 1.5L civic. The performance just isn't there no matter what you do.
 
Just for the record. I have had a chance to personally weigh some of the VOLK wheels.

18x7.5 VOLKs for my buddies GSX= 16.75 LBS.

17x8.5 GRAM LIGHT 57S for my GST= 19.3 LBS.
 
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